It's only been 24 hours and I'm back with an update? What is this? How did I get so damn motivated?

What's good everyone? I am tired as hell and it's 2 a.m. so I'm gonna sleep after this. I would have finished this earlier, but I was out of the house for like 3 hours and shit just hit the fan. But oh well. I'm here now.

To Roseheart37819: Thank you so much, I'm really flattered that you'd credit me! And don't worry, I don't need a hospital (yet HAHA) my sleep schedule is always messed up so I think my body just got over itself. I'll probably wake up fine tomorrow anyway.

So without further ado, let the chapter commence!

Chapter 7

After the slight delay, the two brothers did end up making it to the train station in the nick of time. So all in all, Seijuro would say their trip was successful…except for one thing. Ever since they left Mayuzumi's room, Bokushi had not talked to him at all. Even when Seijuro attempted to initiate a conversation, Bokushi never replied back. So the ride to the station was more than tense.

The train ride was just as bad, if not way worse. Two hours and ten minutes of complete silence. No matter how hard Seijuro tried, he couldn't get a single word out of Bokushi. He didn't even look him in the eyes. It got to a point where Seijuro just gave up and left him to his own devices, staring out the window as he figured out what he should do.

When the train finally arrived in Tokyo, the two of them stepped down onto the platform and began making their way toward the exit. Seijuro looked down to where Bokushi was walking next to him. He was keeping his distance, putting at least a foot of space between them.

He sighed. There must have been some way that he could reach out to him. He wanted to resolve the issue right then and there, he didn't want to go home with all this still clouding his mind. Maybe they could stop somewhere to eat, that would give them plenty of time to smooth out their differences. And he believed he knew somewhere nearby.

…

Seijuro didn't know how he always ended up in Maji Burger when he came to visit Tokyo these days, but it was probably because it used to be a usual hangout spot for the other Miracles back in middle school when they all still walked home together after practice. It was almost nostalgic when he thought about it, in a sort of secondhand experience sort of way.

As Seijuro brought their food to the table and sat down, he watched as Bokushi took it wordlessly and began to eat in silence. Seijuro tried to start off with small talk to see if he was able to get the ball rolling.

"So, Bokushi," Seijuro began. "How is the food?"

Bokushi swallowed before opening his mouth. Seijuro perked up, curious to hear what he'd say, but he realized he had only opened his mouth to take another bite of his burger.

Seijuro bit his lip and tried again. "Is everything alright, Bokushi?"

He didn't get an answer, but he saw the look that Seijuro shot him, a sharp glance that said 'Do not continue.'

Seijuro looked down at the table, finally giving up. He supposed Bokushi really didn't want to talk to him after all.

"Akashi-kun, what a pleasant surprise."

Seijuro's eyes shot up and looked to his immediate left where the voice came from and saw none other than Kuroko there. How long had he been there for, anyway?

"Kuroko," Seijuro said, still a bit stunned by his former teammate's sudden appearance. "It is a surprise, to say the least. And with you is…"

His eyes shifted to the space next to Kuroko which was occupied by a tall red-headed boy. "Kagami Taiga. It's good to see you again."

"Oh, yeah, it's been a while, Akashi," said Kagami. "But uh…there's something I wanted to ask…" He gazed over at the young boy sitting opposite Seijuro. "Who is that?"

"Could it be that Akashi-kun has a little brother?" asked Kuroko.

"Apparently, I do now," said Seijuro. "Kuroko, Kagami, this is my younger brother, Bokushi."

Kagami furrowed his eyebrows as he kept his gaze on the young boy. His heterochromatic eyes made the gears start turning in Kagami's head. "He looks… familiar."

...

"You're Kagami-kun, aren't you?"

Before he could even open his mouth, his body was already moving out of the way as a pair of scissors was launched forward and the blade grazed his cheek, small droplets of blood trickling down the side of his face.

Kuroko's eyes widened in shock. "Kagami-kun!"

Kagami's stare was locked on the wielder of the scissors as a peculiar smile came to pass on their face.

"My, my. I'm surprised you were able to dodge that. In light of that display of grace, I'll forgive you this time. However, there will be no second chance. When I tell you to leave, leave."

The hand reached up with the scissors toward ruby red bangs and began to cut away.

Snip. Snip. Snip.

"In this world, winning is everything. Winners are affirmed completely, and losers are denied completely. I've never lost at anything before, and I never will. Because I always win, and I am always right."

Kagami looked up from the strands of hair on the ground to the eerie face it fell from, heterochromatic gaze locked on his as he gave another smile.

"I show no mercy to those who oppose me. Not even my own parents."

"…kun."

"Kagami-kun…"

"Kagami-kun!"

...

Kagami blinked as he came back into reality, Kuroko and Seijuro looking at him with equal expressions of confusion.

"Kagami-kun, you spaced out," said Kuroko. "Are you okay?"

Kagami's eyes went wide as he finally figured it out. "It's him, isn't it?"

"Kagami-kun, what do you mean?" Kuroko asked.

Kagami pointed to the child in the seat. "It's him. The other Akashi from before, right?"

"I'm surprised you were able to work it out this quickly, Kagami," Seijuro said, slightly impressed.

"I'm surprised as well," said Kuroko. "Kagami-kun can be a bit slow sometimes, after all."

"Oi! I'm not slow!"

"Putting that aside, is that really the other Akashi-kun? How did he become a real person?"

"That I do not know," Seijuro admitted. "All I know is that he appeared out of nowhere as a five-year-old child and now he's stuck like this."

"What a strange phenomenon. In any case, it's nice to see you again, Bokushi-kun."

Bokushi looked up from the tray. "The pleasure is all mine, Tetsuya."

"Akashi-kun, would you mind if we sit with you?"

"Oh, no, please go ahead," Seijuro said, shifting over to make room. "We don't mind, do we Bokushi?"

Bokushi huffed in annoyance and turned back to his food.

Seijuro frowned. Still ignoring me, huh?

Kuroko on the other hand also noticed the change in attitude from Bokushi and narrowed his eyes slightly.

~O~

Their conversation in Maji was pretty normal, Kuroko telling Akashi what's been happening over on their end while Akashi did the same. Kagami was less active in the conversation since he was too busy staring at Bokushi. Even though he knew Bokushi had changed since the Winter Cup, it was still surreal sitting next to the very same person who nearly sent him to the hospital some months ago.

Meanwhile, Kuroko was still observing as he continued talking with Akashi and Bokushi. When Kuroko or Kagami talked with Bokushi, he was polite and answered back, but when Akashi tried speaking to him, he avoided eye contact and turned the other way, not even bothering to answer him. It went on for some time before Kuroko finally decided to say something. When Kagami started a new conversation with Bokushi, Kuroko leaned toward Akashi and spoke in whispers.

"Akashi-kun, is something the matter with you two?"

Akashi put his drink down and raised his eyebrows. "As expected of Kuroko. Your perception is excellent as usual."

"I've been observing people for three years now. I recognize hostile body language anywhere. What's up?"

"Well, I suppose you have a right to know." Akashi sighed as he looked off to the side. "Bokushi won't speak to me. He's been ignoring me since we left Kyoto and I don't know why. He doesn't seem willing to tell me the reason why either."

Kuroko nodded in understanding. "Interesting," he said thoughtfully. "So he won't speak to you at all?"

"No," Akashi answered. "Which makes it all the more difficult for me to solve this problem."

"I see. In that case, why don't I try to help?"

"Huh?"

"Leave me to solve the problem," Kuroko clarified. "I'll speak with him and see how I can fix it."

"You would?" Akashi said in disbelief. "Thank you, Kuroko."

"It's nothing. Although, I sense that Bokushi-kun might not want to talk with you still sitting here, so would you mind stepping out for a bit?"

"Ah, of course."

Akashi excused himself from the table, getting up and making his way toward the bathroom. As soon as he was out of sight, Kuroko decided to make a move.

First of all, he needed to approach the topic carefully, making sure to ease his way into it rather than demanding answers out of the blue. So, Kuroko gave Bokushi a friendly smile and began to speak as he normally would.

"How long has it been since you and Akashi-kun arrived in Tokyo?"

"Over half an hour," Bokushi answered. "Our train came in around six-thirty this evening."

"I see. So was the journey relatively smooth?"

"Yes. We managed to get to the station on time."

"I'm sure with that long journey, you and Akashi-kun had plenty of time to catch up during the train ride, right?"

"No."

Kuroko found a window of opportunity.

"Why not?" he questioned.

Bokushi folded his arms as he looked out the window. "I didn't want to talk to him."

Here was his chance…

"Did something happen today between you two?"

Bokushi paused, before glancing in the general direction that Akashi went in. Kuroko knew what he was thinking.

"It's okay," Kuroko reassured him. "Akashi-kun won't hear you from in there, so you can tell me what you want to say."

Bokushi exhaled softly. "Very well."

From there he told Kuroko and Kagami about what happened that afternoon, how Bokushi wanted to explore the campus a little and wound up finding Mayuzumi. And then he told them about how Akashi came in and forced him to apologize for what Bokushi believed to be "no apparent reason".

He was clearly irritated about the whole ordeal and Kuroko noted how he was specifically irritated at Akashi, and he was telling the Seirin duo how Akashi should have had no reason to act out the way he did.

"It was unjustified treatment," Bokushi huffed. "I don't understand what he was getting angry for."

"So that's why you're ignoring Akashi?" Kagami asked. "Because you didn't like being told off?"

Bokushi nodded.

"I see why you wouldn't like that," said Kuroko. "But everyone gets upset for a reason. That being said, why do you think Akashi-kun was upset with you?"

While it was important that Bokushi was able to vent out his frustrations, Kuroko felt that in order to solve their feud, he'd have to give Bokushi a sense of empathy by going back to this afternoon and putting himself in Akashi's shoes.

After Kuroko had asked this question, Bokushi fell silent and looked down at the table as he pondered. When he finally did speak, it went almost unnoticed, since his voice was so quiet.

"I suppose he might have been mad because he said it's not good if anyone sees me on campus…"

"Go on," Kuroko said, gesturing him to continue. "Why else might he be mad?"

"Because…"

"It's okay, you can tell us."

"…Because Chihiro had to go out of his way to stay with me and make sure I was found, even though he was on his way home to study."

"And?"

"And I almost made us late for the train…"

"There's still one more reason why he was upset, Bokushi-kun."

Bokushi quirked a brow. "What do you mean? I've said them all. What other reason could there possibly be?"

Kuroko finally told him. "Because Akashi-kun was worried about you."

Bokushi could barely process this information. "…Worried?"

"Yes," Kuroko replied. "Even though he may have seemed angry at the time, Akashi-kun cares more than you think. He worries about a lot of things like any normal person, especially about people important to him. As captain of Teiko, he cared about the health of all the players. I'm sure you remember how during training camps, he made sure I ate enough food every day."

Bokushi didn't know what to say. Throughout his entire existence, he was obviously highly respected and feared during his reign at the end of Teiko and the first year of Rakuzan, but he was not someone that anyone would even remotely consider 'caring' for. The fact that for once, one person was worried for his sake, rendered him speechless.

He now understood why Akashi looked so panic-stricken when he burst through the door to Mayuzumi's room that afternoon. He was just worried that he couldn't find him, which was more than enough reason to freak out. Not to mention all the stress he had been dealing with during the week (most of which Bokushi had contributed to in some way).

Bokushi had made a mistake in blowing this out of proportion.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I may have had a lapse in judgment of the situation," Bokushi reluctantly admitted. "It wasn't fair of me to make him run around campus like that. I'm... not even sure why I reacted the way I did."

"In retrospect, for you to do that is sort of out of character," said Kuroko. "Are you sure you weren't angry at something else, too? Something that made you automatically defensive?"

"I do not know," said Bokushi. "Something about him making me apologize just put me on edge, for some reason."

"So, it wasn't really about what he was making you apologize for, but the apology itself?" said Kagami. "Why did that set you off?"

Bokushi paused for a long moment, and Kuroko and Kagami gave him time to gather his thoughts.

"It... just made me feel like an actual child," Bokushi finally answered after a few seconds. "When we first ran into Chihiro a few days ago, I was introduced as a younger brother, but I didn't reveal my actual identity. So, as far as he knows, I am a five-year-old child in every sense of the word. Seijuro-nii, however, knows who I am and he speaks to me as an equal, since my physical form is the only thing that's changed. But at that moment, when he told me to apologize, got upset, and then scolded me in front of Chihiro, I felt like I was being talked down to. Like I was beneath him."

Kuroko exchanged a look with Kagami hearing Bokushi say this and sound so vulnerable while doing so. People looking down on Akashi was partially what made Akashi snap in middle school and switch personalities. Then in the Winter Cup, the manifestation of that insecurity was reflected in Bokushi, who went to extremes to make people stop looking down on him metaphorically and literally. Kuroko could imagine what a sore spot it must have been for Bokushi to be treated like he was lesser than now that he was in the body of a child, and then to have Akashi rub salt in his wounds on top of that. Bokushi must have been pretty miserable stewing in that frustration for a two-hour-plus train ride.

"Thank you for explaining that, Bokushi-kun," said Kuroko. "I know it must not have been easy dealing with such a drastic change to your physical form."

"I agree that it's not easy, but that did not mean I had to take out my frustrations on other people," said Bokushi. "It was rude of me to refuse to give Chihiro an apology, especially since he truly did deserve one from me. And, I think I owe Seijuro-nii an apology, too."

Kuroko smiled.

"Well, if this is how you feel, maybe you should bring it up to Akashi," Kagami suggested. "I'm sure he didn't mean to make you feel like that, but if it bothered you that much, then you gotta tell him."

Bokushi nodded slowly. "Yes, I... I think you're right," he concluded.

As Bokushi silently agreed, Kuroko saw that he looked a bit sheepish. That was the most emotion Kuroko had ever seen in him, and, for the first time, Bokushi looked a little bit more human.

~O~

It was a bit of time before Seijuro was called back to the table again by Kuroko, and he took his seat by the window once more.

"So, how did it go?" Seijuro whispered to him.

Kuroko gave him a satisfied grin. "Speak to him and find out."

Seijuro turned to Bokushi, who froze on the spot the moment he felt Seijuro's eyes on him. He seemed like he was planning to stay quiet until Kuroko gestured him to speak up.

"Go on, tell Akashi-kun what you wanted to say."

Bokushi turned the other way and mumbled something. "…rry."

Seijuro furrowed his eyebrows. "What was that?"

Bokushi exhaled deeply. "I said I'm sorry."

Seijuro was stunned into silence. Just a mere ten minutes ago, Bokushi wouldn't even look in Seijuro's direction, let alone apologize. Did Bokushi have a complete change of heart in the time that Seijuro was gone? What exactly did Kuroko do?

"You're saying sorry?" Seijuro said, still finding it hard to believe that this was coming out of Bokushi's mouth.

Bokushi nodded. "Yes," he said. "It wasn't the best idea to wander around as that could have caused serious problems. And it was inconsiderate to bother Chihiro when he had somewhere to be… so I apologize."

Akashi was still reeling from the shock. Bokushi was actually apologizing for his actions. He was sure Bokushi was finished talking, but then he heard his voice again.

"And also…"

His eyes were back to Bokushi, but despite the fact he was about to say something, he honestly looked like he'd rather stop talking. Kuroko still encouraged him to go on anyway.

"Please keep talking."

Bokushi frowned as his face turned a complicated shade of red. "I… I'm sorry for making you worry."

Akashi didn't even try to hide his surprise. This truly was unexpected on all accounts.

Perhaps that was why Bokushi was looking down as his face grew redder by the second. Admitting this must have been pretty difficult for him, so he must have been feeling quite flustered.

Kuroko side-eyed Akashi and nudged him. "Don't you have something to say to him too, Akashi-kun?"

Akashi regained his composure and thought about what Kuroko just said. He was right, he probably owed Bokushi an apology as well. So he turned to him and sighed.

"Bokushi, I'm also sorry. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I was concerned because I didn't know where you were, but that doesn't justify my actions. I didn't intentionally mean to upset you."

"I know you didn't," said Bokushi. "I was just frustrated."

"Frustrated?" Seijuro echoed. "At what?"

Seijuro watched as Bokushi subtly glanced over to Kuroko and Kagami, who said nothing and once again gestured for him to speak. Bokushi tore his eyes away from them and turned to Seijuro again.

"I understand that I look like a five-year-old, but mentally, I am still the same age as you. When you were scolding me in front of Chihiro, it felt a bit too much like you were treating me like a disobedient child, rather than someone of equal standing. I... didn't like that. That was why I reacted the way I did."

Seijuro deflated a little at that. Earlier that afternoon, he was so focused on finding Bokushi and then got upset when Bokushi refused to apologize after Seijuro asked him to that he didn't even stop to consider the optics. No matter whether or not Mayuzumi knew who Bokushi was, it didn't change the fact that Seijuro let his emotions get in the way and unintentionally treated Bokushi like an actual five-year-old child. How could he have not realized it until now?

"Bokushi, I'm so sorry," he said. "I was so caught up in my own feelings that I didn't even consider how my words would come off to you. I should have never talked down to you in that manner."

"I accept your apology," said Bokushi. "Even though I knew you weren't intentionally trying to hurt me, I still lashed out at you instead of telling you what the problem was."

"Then how about we make a deal," Seijuro proposed. "I promise to be mindful of how I speak to you if you promise to be direct with me whenever I upset you. No more shutting me out. Does that sound fair?"

Bokushi nodded in confirmation. "Yes, that sounds fair."

"Does this mean you want to talk to me again?" Seijuro asked.

Bokushi considered it for a moment. "…Yes."

Seijuro smiled as he playfully ruffled his hair. "That's good. I'm happy."

~O~

After the problem had been resolved, the two brothers had to be on their way. So, they got up and began to say their goodbyes.

"Once again, it was nice seeing you two," said Akashi. "And Kuroko, I can't thank you enough for your help."

"It wasn't a problem at all, Akashi-kun," Kuroko said to him. "And if you ever have another disagreement, just give me a call."

"I'll be sure to do so."

Bokushi gave a brief wave. "Goodbye, Tetsuya and Taiga. I enjoyed our time here."

"Goodbye, Bokushi-kun," Kuroko said, waving back at him.

Kagami threw up his own hand in a wave as well. "Yeah, later."

The Seirin duo watched as Akashi grabbed Bokushi's hand and they left the fast food restaurant, disappearing down the street and out of sight.

When they were gone, Kagami tore his eyes away from the window to look over at Kuroko.

"Hey, Kuroko. Do you think they'll be okay after that?"

Kuroko gave him a reassuring expression. "They'll be fine. Akashi-kun can figure out the rest. I think he'll make a great brother."

Alright alright that settles that. I'm gonna go to bed now, hopefully I can rectify my sleep schedule. But yeah, I hope to update soon. But until then, you know what to do...

Read and review please!